I haven't blogged in a very long time. SORRY! It has been a wild ride around here. There has been so much going on that it is hard to decide where to start. I guess I'll start with an update on our adoption stuff!
First there is our little "C". His stuff has FINALLY gone to ICPC (Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children). Well, it is supposed to have already gone. I don't guess there is any real way to know for sure until our agency gets the notification to send our stuff in for this side of it. I have some updated pictures. The foster mother was doing well at emailing and letting me know about stuff. She asked for pictures to be sent for him. Then NOTHING! She accepted a new placement of a little one that is in the hospital. I know she is spending a lot of time there. I worry about my little "C" though. I wonder if he is getting the email cards and pictures I sent. I am going to send some stuff by mail since I'm not getting anywhere by computer. I know she picks up the cards (I get notifications), but I never hear a word back. It is driving me bonkers! I want him to have a smooth transition. God is in control I remind myself.
The other major news is that we are adopting 4 children from Eastern Europe. There names are Paula (age 4), Anjelina (age 5), Nicholas (age 8), and Ahnja (age 8). I really don't even know for sure if that is their real names. Sometimes children listed internationally are given different names for the listings. I do know that they all have Down Syndrome. I started a new blog to just detail their adoption so here is the link http://godsrainbowsinourlives.blogspot.com/ . We have never done an international adoption. We are scared and excited. We feel a lot of urgency to get everything done has quickly as possible because we don't know a lot about their situations. We know that Paula's situation is probably the most urgent. She is doesn't walk, talk, or do much of anything it seems.
If anyone else is interested in adoption of children with Down Syndrome or other special needs, then I highly advice that you go and take a look at Reece's Rainbow. I will try to get some of their stuff on my page soon to make it easier. There are lots of links on my other blog already. Don't hesitate. Children are waiting and they don't have the time that we do here.
I'll try to do better about posting and do some other posts to get everyone up to speed soon!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Important to Watch, but Only if You Want to be Moved
This video should be watched by every Christian everywhere. Of course when I watch it I feel even more moved toward adoption. I feel even more moved to reach to those that the world doesn't esteem highly. I bet that when you watch it God will make you feel something. Whatever that something is, is something that you should act on. If you don't know your calling when you watch this then I don't know what could move you to know and act. God is amazing and He wants us to be His hands and His feet. We need to touch those around us and those afar. WATCH AND ACT!
Reece's Rainbow
Reece's Rainbow is an awesome site to visit online. They work with all sorts of Down Syndrome advocacy, adoption, fundraising, and just trying to help children with Down Syndrome find loving families. I encourage you to go to their site. Look at all the ways that you can help change the world. Donate to the fund that helps families afford to go and save these precious children. They have a wonderful Christmas program going on and children are finding homes daily. Families are committing to these children while knowing that they are going to have to do tremendous amounts of fundraising and trusting God to give them the rest of the thousands of dollars that are needed to bring their angel home. Reece's Rainbow is changing the world!
I have dreamed about adopting a child with Down Syndrome internationally since before Julianne even came home. Since Julianne got home though, my desire has been more intense and even a bit desperate in my heart. I tuck her in at night and realize that while she is so excited to get to her bed, many children with Down Syndrome may not have gotten out of theirs today. I watch my children play and treat her with such kindness while realizing that in many places children her age are put in mental institutions to live out their lives, which are often way too short. I kiss that little spot above her button nose and realize that many children with Down Syndrome don't have anyone to love them. I can't fathom how our world has gotten so turned around. I can't imagine how on earth people can really just throw away God's most amazing gifts. It is just beyond my comprehension. How can people miss out on those giggles? How can people miss out on the love that these children were to bring into the world and instead just throw them away???? How do Christians everywhere sit back and know that this is happening, but do nothing??????????????????
We are praying hard that God is going to open doors for us to adopt internationally with the guidance of Reece's Rainbow. First we have to get Cody home, but I think by Spring we will be ready to start the balls to rolling. I can already see God working to provide what we need to get started and I am so excited to be a part of His plan. Please pray about it with us. I know God has big plans. I also know that He is going to get Cody home and into our arms soon so that we can make him a permanent part of our family and move on to whoever and wherever He has our next little ones.
I have dreamed about adopting a child with Down Syndrome internationally since before Julianne even came home. Since Julianne got home though, my desire has been more intense and even a bit desperate in my heart. I tuck her in at night and realize that while she is so excited to get to her bed, many children with Down Syndrome may not have gotten out of theirs today. I watch my children play and treat her with such kindness while realizing that in many places children her age are put in mental institutions to live out their lives, which are often way too short. I kiss that little spot above her button nose and realize that many children with Down Syndrome don't have anyone to love them. I can't fathom how our world has gotten so turned around. I can't imagine how on earth people can really just throw away God's most amazing gifts. It is just beyond my comprehension. How can people miss out on those giggles? How can people miss out on the love that these children were to bring into the world and instead just throw them away???? How do Christians everywhere sit back and know that this is happening, but do nothing??????????????????
We are praying hard that God is going to open doors for us to adopt internationally with the guidance of Reece's Rainbow. First we have to get Cody home, but I think by Spring we will be ready to start the balls to rolling. I can already see God working to provide what we need to get started and I am so excited to be a part of His plan. Please pray about it with us. I know God has big plans. I also know that He is going to get Cody home and into our arms soon so that we can make him a permanent part of our family and move on to whoever and wherever He has our next little ones.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Not Blogged for a Little While
I haven't been on here for a little while. Things have been incredibly busy here. Construction is still dragging on. We did bring boxes of furniture in tonight. We will be putting some together this weekend and the inside is supposed to be finished (and them out of my house lol) by Wednesday. They are doing a great job and are very nice, but we need our "normal" (haha that is funny don't you think) life back.
My last posts were about 3 of the children accepting Jesus as their Savior. Crystal and Destiny are doing great. Andrew is NOT. He did well for a few days, but the devil is fighting him hard. He is back to using his pants part of the time (remember he will be 10 in February and has nothing wrong except the RAD). He is not doing his school work well and always refuses to finish it all. I know that he is learning, but he just won't perform it.
Jose and Forrest have joined ranks with Andrew for the moment. They too are refusing to finish all of their work for any day CORRECTLY. Jose has even tried to tell me that I didn't teach him that 24,000 was bigger than 1,000, so that is why he can't add. roflol GIVE ME A BREAK! Forrest and Jose will tell me that they are "playing games", but yet they still act surprised by their lack of priveleges. HMMM . . . . .
I am sick. A few of the kids have a cold of sorts as well. Brent just got over it. (Dayton says we got it from Daddy and we should "banish" him, which I am inclined to agree with currently. haha) Dayton and I are having to deal with affecting our asthma. I am dealing with it affecting my sinuses as well. Praying God heals it all so we can enjoy the coming week with lots of snow to fly around out there. :)
I hope all is going well where you are. I will try to manage a post tomorrow about Reece's Rainbow. I am praying that God allows us to be a part of that adventure for huge blessings as soon as Cody makes it home. :) Right now it is already tomorrow and I need to head for bed!
My last posts were about 3 of the children accepting Jesus as their Savior. Crystal and Destiny are doing great. Andrew is NOT. He did well for a few days, but the devil is fighting him hard. He is back to using his pants part of the time (remember he will be 10 in February and has nothing wrong except the RAD). He is not doing his school work well and always refuses to finish it all. I know that he is learning, but he just won't perform it.
Jose and Forrest have joined ranks with Andrew for the moment. They too are refusing to finish all of their work for any day CORRECTLY. Jose has even tried to tell me that I didn't teach him that 24,000 was bigger than 1,000, so that is why he can't add. roflol GIVE ME A BREAK! Forrest and Jose will tell me that they are "playing games", but yet they still act surprised by their lack of priveleges. HMMM . . . . .
I am sick. A few of the kids have a cold of sorts as well. Brent just got over it. (Dayton says we got it from Daddy and we should "banish" him, which I am inclined to agree with currently. haha) Dayton and I are having to deal with affecting our asthma. I am dealing with it affecting my sinuses as well. Praying God heals it all so we can enjoy the coming week with lots of snow to fly around out there. :)
I hope all is going well where you are. I will try to manage a post tomorrow about Reece's Rainbow. I am praying that God allows us to be a part of that adventure for huge blessings as soon as Cody makes it home. :) Right now it is already tomorrow and I need to head for bed!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Crystal Accepted Jesus too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, you read that correctly. Tonight Crystal came to me and said that she really wanted to get saved. I asked her why and she said that she needed to quit sitting and thinking about hell. I took her to the same quiet spot that I took Andrew to just a couple nights ago.
We talked for awhile. I reminded her of all the stuff that I reminded Andrew of in the previous post. She was very serious. I knew that it had been on her mind for quite some time. About 6 months ago I found a letter she had written to God about how she wanted to get saved. With most of my kids that would be an immediate time to talk. The problem is that if I push RAD kids toward something then they go the other way! I had to wait until it was something that she came to me about.
I asked her what "sins" she had committed that she needed Jesus to save her from. She told me that a lot of them were "hate". She went on to tell me things that I very well knew, but had never had her outright tell me. She said that when she came here she knew that we loved her very much, but that she always "hated" us very much. She cried a lot. She said that she knew that God wouldn't want her to hate us and that she did a lot of other sins too.
Crystal asked Jesus to save her and He did! She was very happy and I hope that I see a lot more of her happiness. She has been giving me hugs for awhile now. Tonight they were a little sweeter. She told me that she does love me and that she is glad that we are her family. WOW GOD IS AMAZING! Of course, when God comes into someone's heart there must be LOVE there because GOD IS LOVE!
I ask again, as I did about Andrew, that no one give them attention as a result of this. They need their salvation to be about a relationship with Christ. Attention is so bad for the RAD kids that it could get them completely off track. As their mother I am so THRILLED that they have accepted Jesus as their Savior. At the same time, I am terrified that people will show them "normal" attention like they would others. I'm terrified that a little of that could get them completely off track. Please join me in praying for God to spare them from that and continue to make their hearts to heal.
We talked for awhile. I reminded her of all the stuff that I reminded Andrew of in the previous post. She was very serious. I knew that it had been on her mind for quite some time. About 6 months ago I found a letter she had written to God about how she wanted to get saved. With most of my kids that would be an immediate time to talk. The problem is that if I push RAD kids toward something then they go the other way! I had to wait until it was something that she came to me about.
I asked her what "sins" she had committed that she needed Jesus to save her from. She told me that a lot of them were "hate". She went on to tell me things that I very well knew, but had never had her outright tell me. She said that when she came here she knew that we loved her very much, but that she always "hated" us very much. She cried a lot. She said that she knew that God wouldn't want her to hate us and that she did a lot of other sins too.
Crystal asked Jesus to save her and He did! She was very happy and I hope that I see a lot more of her happiness. She has been giving me hugs for awhile now. Tonight they were a little sweeter. She told me that she does love me and that she is glad that we are her family. WOW GOD IS AMAZING! Of course, when God comes into someone's heart there must be LOVE there because GOD IS LOVE!
I ask again, as I did about Andrew, that no one give them attention as a result of this. They need their salvation to be about a relationship with Christ. Attention is so bad for the RAD kids that it could get them completely off track. As their mother I am so THRILLED that they have accepted Jesus as their Savior. At the same time, I am terrified that people will show them "normal" attention like they would others. I'm terrified that a little of that could get them completely off track. Please join me in praying for God to spare them from that and continue to make their hearts to heal.
Andrew Got Saved (yes him too!)
Thurday evening at dinner Andrew told me that he was going to get saved when he was a teenager. I told him that was fine. He said that it was because when he is mad at me, he thinks about how he will do it then since he knows that I want him to do it. I told him that his salvation was just between he and God. I told him that him doing it as a teenager works fine unless he gets killed in a car accident or Jesus comes back before then. I told him that he could leave my thoughts out of it because it was between he and God.
Right before Andrew went to bed, he came to me and said that he needed to be saved right then. I talked to Andrew for over and hour from beginning to end. I wanted to make sure that he understood that salvation was serious. I talked to him about how Jesus literally DIED for him and how it would be spitting in His face as He hung there to not be serious about it. I let him know that asking Jesus into your heart is supposed to mean not only that you don't want to go to hell, but that you want to live for Jesus. I talked about how God is LOVE and he admitted that he'd had a lot of hate inside just out of the blue when I mentioned that. I told him that God KNOWS everything and that He can't be manipulated or tricked or deceived. I reminded him that while many people can see his smile and think it is real even when it is fake, God isn't like that. I reminded him that while he has said he was interested in salvation before, but it was just for attention that God always knows the truth.
I really am 99% sure that Andrew asked Jesus into his heart Thursday evening. I was only 98% sure that night. He seemed sincere and I don't fall for his games too easy. Since then I have seen a huge turnaround in his behavior and even in the look in his eyes. A lot was said and I have seen a lot of "action" that backs it up the past couple days. Please pray for him. I know the devil is going to fight him hard.
Also please if you know us in real life, don't give him attention for this (or anything else for that matter). I really need him to know that he should feel blessed and it is about a relationship with God. Attention will make his RAD flair up really badly.
GOD IS AMAZING!
Right before Andrew went to bed, he came to me and said that he needed to be saved right then. I talked to Andrew for over and hour from beginning to end. I wanted to make sure that he understood that salvation was serious. I talked to him about how Jesus literally DIED for him and how it would be spitting in His face as He hung there to not be serious about it. I let him know that asking Jesus into your heart is supposed to mean not only that you don't want to go to hell, but that you want to live for Jesus. I talked about how God is LOVE and he admitted that he'd had a lot of hate inside just out of the blue when I mentioned that. I told him that God KNOWS everything and that He can't be manipulated or tricked or deceived. I reminded him that while many people can see his smile and think it is real even when it is fake, God isn't like that. I reminded him that while he has said he was interested in salvation before, but it was just for attention that God always knows the truth.
I really am 99% sure that Andrew asked Jesus into his heart Thursday evening. I was only 98% sure that night. He seemed sincere and I don't fall for his games too easy. Since then I have seen a huge turnaround in his behavior and even in the look in his eyes. A lot was said and I have seen a lot of "action" that backs it up the past couple days. Please pray for him. I know the devil is going to fight him hard.
Also please if you know us in real life, don't give him attention for this (or anything else for that matter). I really need him to know that he should feel blessed and it is about a relationship with God. Attention will make his RAD flair up really badly.
GOD IS AMAZING!
Destiny Got Saved
Well Wednesday evening Destiny came to me right before we left for church. She said "Mommy, Dayton and Denzell don't have their sins any more because Jesus took them, but I still have mine because I haven't been saved. I need to be saved Mommy!".
I have lead a lot of my kids to the Lord. I don't know why her saying that made me want to sob and cry. It did though. God is so amazing! Destiny is the child that they told me was "mentally retarded" and who was such a mess when she got here. She was scared. She only spoke in echolalia. If I raised my hand she would flinch and jump back. She never expressed any emotion that was good at first except that she always looked scared. Since then she has become my bubbly happy girl. I knew that the AWANA verses she was learning seemed to be sticking, but I wondered when she would for sure make all those connections and be able to express them. Her doing it sent me into tears. I hurriedly said "Ok we are going to be late for AWANA if we don't hurry so we'll take care of it there". She was happy and so was I!
She spoke with "Billy" (I've heard his name mentioned in every prayer since then that she has prayed out loud.) and prayed to ask Jesus to take away her sins and save her. She was so excited! She even got up front and wanted to tell all the other people about how "Jesus took away Denzell and Dayton's sins and now He took away mine too! He saved me and made me very happy!".
God is amazing! I've got two other posts coming up with just how amazing!
I have lead a lot of my kids to the Lord. I don't know why her saying that made me want to sob and cry. It did though. God is so amazing! Destiny is the child that they told me was "mentally retarded" and who was such a mess when she got here. She was scared. She only spoke in echolalia. If I raised my hand she would flinch and jump back. She never expressed any emotion that was good at first except that she always looked scared. Since then she has become my bubbly happy girl. I knew that the AWANA verses she was learning seemed to be sticking, but I wondered when she would for sure make all those connections and be able to express them. Her doing it sent me into tears. I hurriedly said "Ok we are going to be late for AWANA if we don't hurry so we'll take care of it there". She was happy and so was I!
She spoke with "Billy" (I've heard his name mentioned in every prayer since then that she has prayed out loud.) and prayed to ask Jesus to take away her sins and save her. She was so excited! She even got up front and wanted to tell all the other people about how "Jesus took away Denzell and Dayton's sins and now He took away mine too! He saved me and made me very happy!".
God is amazing! I've got two other posts coming up with just how amazing!
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